I don't know if I'm buying in to the idea that single sex-free people are all creepy..
That's not what's been said at all, it's much more complicated than that and connected to the power role of the catholic priest and to the divinity role of the catholic priest, which in turn is intimately connected to the vow of abstinence. If you study historically the first break between the catholic church and the protestant church you'll notice that one of the main concerns Martin Luther had with the dynamics of Catholicism was the "divinity" role of the priesthood. He claimed that a priest was just a normal man (with a wife and a family, for instance) and could only give advice, but never (among other things) give pardon for sins in the name of God, only god himself could do that, which would come through the prayer and remorse of the individual. These claims by Martin Luther not only gave him a banning sentence, but also started wars. Today, the catholic church also claims that prayer and remorse are true ways to salvation, but these claims didn't exist in Luther's days, in fact, the majority in a catholic congregation didn't even understand what was said during mass, because it was held in Latin, making the priest's role even more divine. One of Luther's major accomplishments was to start holding masses in the native language of the congregation, which much later in history seeped through to the catholic church.
The importance of divinity and power connected to the vow of abstinence in the catholic priest's role separates him from not only many other kinds of priests, but also from many other kinds of people who take abstinence by choice. I would even go so far as to say that there is no real correlation to speak of.
In the Protestant church the priest is just a man, and his role is just that of a man who's addressing the scriptures, there is a certain littleness and humility within the very codex of the church's hierarchy. In practicality, there might be many messed up individuals within the protestant church's priesthood as well, but making the priest only a man (or woman) certainly can't be ignored as a factor in the dynamics.
If you study the pathology of pedophilia and rape, one of the first things you'll notice is that the key dynamic is power more so than sex. And if a particular faith claims power, otherworldly authority and asexuality as factors in the priest role, this could very well create very particular triggering factors within already damaged individuals, predatory individuals who are drawn to roles of power and authority.
To screen priests closely, by other agencies than the the priesthood itself, would be one way of dealing with these problems, but to suggest that the role of the priest in the catholic church seizes to be divine, but that of a mere man, by letting go of the biggest claim a priest has to his divine role withing the catholic church - the vow of abstinence, would absolutely cause some changes, it would in time likely filter out some of the worst power-junkies that are attracted to the priesthood.
Again, we can find pedophiles where there are children, and very often they are in roles of power (parents, teachers etc), if you tone down a particular part of the catholic culture, the role of sexless divine power (which also poses as a cover, a factor I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned in this debate), we might just find the key reason for why the catholic church has so much more pedophilia within its ranks than many other churches.
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Re: There are millions of people who live sex-free lives by choice.
Date: 3/4/10 18:30 (UTC)That's not what's been said at all, it's much more complicated than that and connected to the power role of the catholic priest and to the divinity role of the catholic priest, which in turn is intimately connected to the vow of abstinence. If you study historically the first break between the catholic church and the protestant church you'll notice that one of the main concerns Martin Luther had with the dynamics of Catholicism was the "divinity" role of the priesthood. He claimed that a priest was just a normal man (with a wife and a family, for instance) and could only give advice, but never (among other things) give pardon for sins in the name of God, only god himself could do that, which would come through the prayer and remorse of the individual. These claims by Martin Luther not only gave him a banning sentence, but also started wars. Today, the catholic church also claims that prayer and remorse are true ways to salvation, but these claims didn't exist in Luther's days, in fact, the majority in a catholic congregation didn't even understand what was said during mass, because it was held in Latin, making the priest's role even more divine. One of Luther's major accomplishments was to start holding masses in the native language of the congregation, which much later in history seeped through to the catholic church.
The importance of divinity and power connected to the vow of abstinence in the catholic priest's role separates him from not only many other kinds of priests, but also from many other kinds of people who take abstinence by choice. I would even go so far as to say that there is no real correlation to speak of.
In the Protestant church the priest is just a man, and his role is just that of a man who's addressing the scriptures, there is a certain littleness and humility within the very codex of the church's hierarchy. In practicality, there might be many messed up individuals within the protestant church's priesthood as well, but making the priest only a man (or woman) certainly can't be ignored as a factor in the dynamics.
If you study the pathology of pedophilia and rape, one of the first things you'll notice is that the key dynamic is power more so than sex. And if a particular faith claims power, otherworldly authority and asexuality as factors in the priest role, this could very well create very particular triggering factors within already damaged individuals, predatory individuals who are drawn to roles of power and authority.
To screen priests closely, by other agencies than the the priesthood itself, would be one way of dealing with these problems, but to suggest that the role of the priest in the catholic church seizes to be divine, but that of a mere man, by letting go of the biggest claim a priest has to his divine role withing the catholic church - the vow of abstinence, would absolutely cause some changes, it would in time likely filter out some of the worst power-junkies that are attracted to the priesthood.
Again, we can find pedophiles where there are children, and very often they are in roles of power (parents, teachers etc), if you tone down a particular part of the catholic culture, the role of sexless divine power (which also poses as a cover, a factor I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned in this debate), we might just find the key reason for why the catholic church has so much more pedophilia within its ranks than many other churches.